A former Manchester City player has been cleared of raping a young woman after a night out in Cleethorpes.

It was alleged by prosecutors that George Glendon, 22, sexually attacked the ‘extremely drunk’ 19-year-old in a house near the seaside resort.

But a jury cleared him of any wrongdoing on Thursday after his defence team argued the alleged victim gave ‘unreliable’ evidence.

They added that the evidence against the young footballer from Stockport was ‘a million miles away’ from proving him guilty.

Mr Glendon, of Outwood Drive, Heald Green, Cheadle, denied raping the woman in early 2016.

George Glendon was captain of City's elite development squad

A jury of nine women and three men took just over half-an-hour to clear him of the charge at Grimsby Crown Court.

In his evidence, Mr Glendon said the woman had been ‘quite drunk’ but denied she was ‘extremely drunk’ and said their later sexual encounter had lasted ‘around five seconds’.

He also denied waiting outside the Lite House club in Cleethorpes so he could pick up the girl for sex.

He helped her because he was concerned about her safety, the jury was told.

The prosecution claimed that the woman was so ‘falling over drunk’ that she was ‘incapable of stringing a sentence together’.

Later, she could not remember what happened to her apart from that she ended up in a man’s bedroom with her dress off, it was claimed.


“I get up the stairs and she is in the room where I was meant to be staying. She was in the bed. She was under the covers. I seen her dress on the floor. She had already taken it off before I got in. I didn’t help.”

“She was encouraging it. She took the first move by kissing me and I was kissing her back. Her body was moving. She seemed like she was enjoying it. She tries to get on top of me while I carry on kissing. She pulled my jeans down so they are off.”

He claimed they had sex at her instigation.

George Glendon now plays for Fleetwood Town


But he claimed the sex lasted only for ‘around five seconds’.

The woman could remember very little of what happened, the court heard.

Defence barrister Judy Khan QC told the court that Mr Glendon’s arrest was ‘the start of a nightmare for him’.

She urged the jury: “You can end the nightmare for him now by finding him not guilty.”

Midfielder Glendon joined Manchester City as a youth player in 2013 and became captain of their Elite Development Squad. He signed on loan for League One Fleetwood Town in 2016 before being signed on a permanent deal in January last year.